Dust-up Over Those 3 Coins in a Fountain.

Wonder how many people will continue to throw those coins knowing they aren't being used for charitable purposes. I know I would probably substitute a 'fake' coin myself if I went there again, after all I used a real coin the first time and never returned so I guess it wouldn't matter.

I've thrown several coins and had no idea the money went to charity. I'd still throw it even for infrastructure.

Thanks for the link to the article Eric. Very interesting!

That is sad. The city wastes millions through graft and mismanagement. This is low hanging fruit. Perhaps issuing tickets and enforcing parking fines (all those BMWs parked on sidewalks and in pedestrian crossings), as well as charging a bus fare commensurate with a large city (it is only €1.50 per ride in Rome and upwards of €2.50 in other major cities) would be better than stealing from the poor. Oh, and expecting city workers to actually show up and work would be helpful.

I don't think tourists care about the consequences - other than it's impact on themselves - I will return.....

What really happened: the agreement between the city of Rome and Caritas signed in 2001 expired on the 1st of January 2019. On December 28 the city postponed the deadline up to April 2019.
While giving more time to Caritas, some city officials declared that, according to them:

• It's the city that must use those money to help the poors and not a confessional organization
• an agreement that lasts for 18 years is not acceptable. There are other charitable organizations that do a good job for the poors in Rome.
• Some money should be used to repair the Fountain and the small square where the Fountain is. This would help the city to save money for other things.

Nobody had ever written or spoken about infrastruttures. Just like the city of Venice has never tried to ban wheeled suitcases, a legend that The Guardian published again a couple of weeks ago.
UK press sucks. Period.

The Roman Catholic Church is hardly short of a bob or two. If they sold a couple of pictures, they could fund the charity for several years to come.

I was interested in the second photo - do Romans usually go on protests holding English language signs? Luckily for the BBC they, apparently, do. But the idea UK press "sucks", is total tosh compared to Italian media which is biased and utterly hopeless.

They can't sell anything, it's part of the agreement signed in the 30s between the vatican and The italian government.

I explained why I think that UK press sucks, you're free to do the same.

The "Italian counterpart" of The Guardian, a newspaper called La Repubblica, would never keep on repeating the same fake news about a foreign city.

Given who was the Italian government in the 30s, you'd think that wouldn't be a great excuse to rely on!

It doesn't matter. It's a fact that proves you wrong, not an excuse. Some sections of that agreement are still valid and the Vatican can't sell any piece of art. So writing: " the Church could sell a couple of pictures." makes no sense: they can't sell anything.

The Trevi Fountain always reminds me of this classical movie scene with the great Totò, who tried to sell the fountain to an Italian American tourist:

https://youtu.be/_FbT7-TZAcI

Roberto! Too funny!! I Love the line about Bernini - He was from Bern and he was short!!